Category Archives: Boris Johnson

Barnier pours scorn on Johnson’s spokesman ahead of trade talks

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EU negotiator signals future relationship negotiations are on course for acrimonious start

Negotiations over Britain’s future relationship with the EU appear on course for an acrimonious start after Michel Barnier poured scorn on Boris Johnson’s spokesman and suggested the new Northern Ireland secretary did not understand the withdrawal agreement.

Barnier said he expected the talks, starting on Monday, to be “very difficult” but pronounced Brussels as “ready” following the official sign-off by EU ministers of their instructions for their chief negotiator.

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EU to demand right to punish UK if it fails to shadow Brussels rules

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Member states agree EU should have right to apply sanctions if divergence causes ‘disruptions’

The EU will demand the right to punish Britain if the government fails to shadow the Brussels rulebook in the future, member states have agreed, as Boris Johnson was warned that the bloc would not be hurried into a deal on the future relationship.

A final draft of the EU’s negotiating position agreed by ambassadors on Monday, ready for ministerial sign off on Tuesday, establishes the bloc’s developing environmental, social and workers’ standards as the baseline for a trade deal.

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Brexit: UK reneging on Northern Ireland pledges risks trade deals with US and EU

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Concerns raised after reports negotiating team told to devise plans to ‘get around’ protocol in withdrawal agreement

Reneging on the special Brexit arrangements for Northern Ireland will risk trade deals with both the EU and the US, experts have warned.

Concern has been raised after Boris Johnson’s Brexit negotiating team has reportedly been ordered to come up with plans to “get around” the Northern Ireland protocol in the withdrawal agreement, which includes checks on goods and food going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

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Anger over fresh delays to decision on Arcuri-Johnson probe

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Police watchdog says global witness hunt has slowed investigation of PM’s friendship with entrepreneur when he was London mayor

The police regulator says it has been tracking down witnesses across the world, as it seeks to explain why it has yet to decide whether to launch an investigation into Boris Johnson and his relationship with the US businesswoman Jennifer Arcuri.

Since late September the Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) has been evaluating whether to investigate the prime minister for possible criminal misconduct over his friendship with Arcuri when he was mayor of London.

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UK and Brussels clash over post-Brexit trade deal even before key talks begin

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Crunch negotiations begin next month

Downing Street is accusing the EU of being in disarray over its plans for a post-Brexit trade deal, in the latest deterioration of relations ahead of crunch talks next month.

Boris Johnson will also unveil his blueprint for a US trade deal next week, in a move designed to heap further pressure on Brussels. However, EU sources regard the hostile briefings as a bluff from the prime minister’s team, saying that their pre-negotiation plans are on track.

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UK Brexit negotiator accused of treating Britain and EU as ‘two different planets’

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Verhofstadt says it would be a ‘hell of a job’ to achieve success using David Frost’s approach

Boris Johnson’s chief Brexit negotiator has been accused of treating the EU and the UK as if they are “living on two different planets” after vowing to break all regulatory ties with Brussels.

Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian prime minister who has led the European parliament’s approach to Brexit, said it would be a “hell of a job” to secure a successful outcome from the negotiation using the British approach.

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Boris Johnson adviser quits over race and eugenics controversy

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Andrew Sabisky says he is stepping down as ‘contractor’ to No 10 after fierce criticism across political spectrum

A controversial new adviser to Boris Johnson resigned on Monday night after MPs and experts accused No 10 of condoning his controversial claims that intelligence is linked to race.

Andrew Sabisky, who was brought into Downing Street by Johnson’s senior aide Dominic Cummings as part of his appeal for “misfits and weirdos”, became the subject of intense media scrutiny after details emerged of his views on subjects ranging from black people’s IQs to whether benefits claimants should be encouraged to have fewer children.

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Labour leadership: Rebecca Long-Bailey gives speech on party’s path to power – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson chairing a meeting of the new cabinet and further government reshuffle developments

Q: If the UK goes into recession, how would that affect your plans?

Long-Bailey says the economy is vulnerable because the economic model is broken.

Q: How much would your policy on freedom of movement affect the wages of workers?

Long-Bailey says the UK will be out of the single market. She says she wants an immigration system based on values, not on targets.

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Sajid Javid resigns as chancellor in Boris Johnson reshuffle

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Rishi Sunak replaces Javid, who refused the PM’s request to sack all his advisers

Sajid Javid has resigned as chancellor after Boris Johnson asked him to sack all of his advisers in a move by No 10 to seize control of the Treasury.

Javid has been replaced by his deputy, Rishi Sunak, the chief secretary to the Treasury, who is a favourite within No 10.

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‘One rule for black boys and another for white’: Corbyn attacks PM

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Jeremy Corbyn confronts Boris Johnson on drug use after deportation of ex-offenders

Jeremy Corbyn launched a scathing personal attack on Boris Johnson over the way black and white children connected to class A drugs are treated by the government in the wake of the deportation of ex-offenders to Jamaica.

Speaking in the Commons, the Labour leader called out the prime minister over allegations of Johnson’s own drug use, saying: “If there was a case of a young white boy with blond hair who later dabbled in class A drugs, and conspired with a friend to beat up a journalist, would he deport that boy?

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Critics pour scorn on Scotland-Northern Ireland bridge idea

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Architect and PM’s enthusiasm for Celtic crossing tempered by local cynicism of ‘pipe dream’

“The stars are aligning” for a bridge between Scotland and Northern Ireland, according to the principal advocate for a Celtic crossing, the leading architect Alan Dunlop.

Although engineering experts have dismissed the concept as “bonkers”, Dunlop has been pressing for serious discussion of Boris Johnson’s latest grand infrastructure scheme since he conducted a feasibility study into the proposal in 2018, when he first raised the prospect.

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What does the Irish election result mean for Brexit?

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A Sinn Féin coalition will rattle unionists, who consider Boris Johnson’s EU deal a betrayal

Sinn Féin won the most first-preference votes in Saturday’s Irish general election, delivering a shock to the country’s political landscape after decades of domination by the centrist rivals Fine Gael and Fianna Fáil.

However, the fragmented results will produce a hung parliament with no party close to 80 seats, meaning there could be weeks – possibly months – of negotiations between party leaders before a government is formed.

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Government officials working on plans for bridge linking Scotland to Northern Ireland, No 10 confirms – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen

Q: Do you think there is any chance of Boris Johnson changing his mind in relation to ruling out an extension to the post-Brexit transition?

Sturgeon says she has to assume that what the UK government says about ruling out an extension is what they mean.

Q: Have you had any contact from the police in relation to Derek Mackay’s conduct? And do you think he should resign as an MSP?

Sturgeon says she has not had any contact over this from the police.

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Power is everything – and progressives forget that at their peril | Jonathan Freedland

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As Boris Johnson and Donald Trump know, being in office means setting your own agenda

You take comfort where you can. Especially at a time like this, when the side of progress is beleaguered, when left or liberal values are taking a hammering on every front, apparently losing every battle, it’s natural to cling to whatever blanket of consolation we can find. When a single week can see Britain leave the European Union and Donald Trump bragging and swaggering in vengeful celebration as he escapes punishment for a high crime he clearly committed, the need for soothing can become intense. One such solace is that, despite the concrete defeats visible all around us, the left is somehow “winning the argument”.

Related: Without the BBC we could be facing a post-truth dystopia | Jonathan Freedland

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UK unprepared for COP 26 conference, warn climate leaders

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Former UN climate envoy joins list of experts frustrated at Britain’s lack of leadership

The UK is showing a “lack of coherence” in its leadership of vital UN climate crisis talks this year and giving the damaging impression that the talks are not a high priority, one of the world’s leading voices on the climate crisis has said.

Mary Robinson, a former UN climate envoy and Ireland’s first female president, also said the perception that major British politicians, including the ex-prime minister David Cameron and former foreign secretary William Hague, were unwilling to take on the role of leading the COP 26 summit was damaging.

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No 10 says Johnson’s row with Trump over Huawei was ‘overblown’

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US president was reportedly furious about PM’s decision to use Chinese 5G expertise

Downing Street has sought to play down the significance of a difficult phone call between Donald Trump and Boris Johnson over the UK’s decision to allow Chinese company Huawei to help build its 5G network.

Trump was reported by the FT to have been “apoplectic” about the decision taken by Johnson, and the phone call last week was said by one official to have been “very difficult” and tense.

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German MPs taken aback by Johnson’s hardline trade rhetoric

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In London for LSE symposium, politicians express confusion at Britain’s post-Brexit stance

A flood of senior German politicians visiting the UK this week have been left confused and unnerved by the hardline rhetoric set out by Boris Johnson on trade talks, prompting warnings that the risk of a breakdown, or a no-deal Brexit, is as high as it has ever been.

Germany takes on the EU presidency in the second half of this year, and will have a crucial role in helping the European commission to steer the talks on a future UK-EU trading relationship to a successful conclusion by the end of the transition period in December.

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Police uncovering ‘epidemic of child abuse’ in 1970s and 80s

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PM told to say sorry for remark about ‘spaffing’ money up wall as 4,024 claims lead to guilty verdicts

Police say they are uncovering a hidden “epidemic” of paedophile abuse in the 1970s and 1980s, with thousands of allegations leading to convictions against people who abused their power to attack children.

New figures seen by the Guardian show that 4,024 allegations led to guilty verdicts at court after police investigations since 2014 into decades-old child sex offences.

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PMQs: Boris Johnson faces Jeremy Corbyn – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn at PMQs

The SDLP’s Colum Eastwood asks about the involvement of the IRA in the murder of Paul Quinn in 2007. It was claimed Quinn was a criminal, he says. That was a lie, he says.

Johnson says the government will implement the Stormont House agreement so as to provide justice for victims.

The SNP’s Owen Thompson asks when the report into Russian interference in UK elections will be published.

Johnson says it will be published when the intelligence and security committee is reconstituted. He says conspiracy theorists will be disappointed by its conclusions.

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‘We will crack it’: Boris Johnson sets out his climate crisis vision

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PM reaffirms 2050 net-zero pledge but provides few details on how it will be achieved

Boris Johnson has set out his vision for forging a new global consensus on the climate crisis promising “we will crack it”, though providing few details on how his government intends to do so.

The prime minister has brought forward the UK’s phaseout of diesel and petrol vehicles by five years to 2035, and hastened the phaseout of coal-fired power by a year to 2024. He reaffirmed the UK’s pledge to switch to a net-zero emissions economy by 2050, and urged other nations – without naming any – to do the same.

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